The Bathroom Brag Book

Our old bathroom. Bone colored toilet, bath and tile. Stained wallpaper. Peeling vinyl floor. Skinniest closet known to man. And FREEZING in the winter. Sometimes so cold the pipes would freeze.

The old shower. About a month after we moved in, Steve leaned on the soap dish and it fell off revealing a nicely rotted wall behind the tile. He installed this surround as a quick fix until we were ready to remodel. You can't see it in the photo but there is a VERY LOW, popcorn coated ceiling over the shower. Every time I cleaned the shower I accidentally knocked a little dusting of popcorn into the tub. And watched the ceiling absorb water. Yuck.

Did I mention we had 2 bids from contractors to remodel our bathroom for us? They both came back with a total of around $15,000. Ouch. And impossible. So, four months ago, Steve started demolition. When he tore out the ceiling, we were surprised to find a whole lotta space up there.

Plumbing needed to be relocated to an inside wall to avoid freezing.

I am pretty good at visualizing, but it was hard to see a pretty bathroom coming out of this. Even after picking out tile, fixtures and paint colors, I was getting nervous about how it would all come together. We got help with the plumbing, but Steve did everything else. Insulation, wiring, drywall, tiling...and it was his first attempt at most of it. He did an amazing job. As an added luxury he installed a fan that is also a heater. No more frigid winter mornings in this bathroom.

Ta-da! The high ceiling (which is so high I couldn't fit it in the frame) and the narrow toilet tank make the bathroom seem loads bigger. The pedestal sink is larger than our old vanity. You can actually set things on the edge of the sink now. I love the way everything turned out.

Steve replaced the world's skinniest closet with some much more functional shelves.

I'm cherishing this photo. Our new, perfect bathroom. Before all of the bath toys, Spiderman toothbrushes, and Elmo bubble bath bottles take over...

Thank you, my brave husband. You are super talented and hard-working. Thank you for giving up all of your free time and most of your sleep for this.